Iraqi PM says identifies perpetrators of failed assassination attempt

AGENCY: NOV. 8 – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on Sunday that he has identified the perpetrators of the failed assassination attempt on his residence in the capital Baghdad.

“We will pursue those who committed the crime. We know them well, and we will reveal their identities,” said a statement by the prime minister’s media office.

These perpetrators are the same who killed Nibras Farman, an Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) officer, and they will be brought to justice, al-Kadhimi said without giving further details.

Before dawn, al-Kadhimi escaped unharmed from an armed drone assassination attempt on his residence in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses some of the main offices of the Iraqi government and foreign embassies.

The assassination attempt came amid protests by followers of political parties rejecting last month’s election results.

On Friday, the protests escalated into a clash with the security forces at the entrances of the Green Zone, which led to the killing of two protesters and the wounding of dozens of security members and protesters.

In the parliamentary elections on Oct. 10, the Sadrist Movement, led by prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, took the lead with more than 70 seats, while the al-Fatah (Conquest) Coalition garnered 17 seats compared with 47 in the 2018 elections.

Political parties questioning the results said the elections were manipulated and that they would not accept the “fabricated results.”

Followers of the political parties rejecting the election results took to the streets in many Iraqi cities, including the capital Baghdad, when the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission is still considering the appeals and complaints submitted by the political parties.